STEM Learning

Your Indoor STEM Activity Guide

Whether it’s a hot summer day that makes it impossible to be outside or a cool fall night with nothing to do, there are plenty of fun ways to make STEM learning happen indoors. We’ve put together a brief guide to indoor STEM activities with ideas from of our favorite bloggers.

Do the Paper Bag STEM Challenge: By Little Bins for Little Hands

Little Bins for Little Hands designed a whole week of indoor activities like building a cup tower and marshmallow tower, launching a car, a mystery challenge and more. These STEM challenges can be done on a budget and require common objects like pencils, string, cups, toothpicks, tape, small toy cars, and more. Little Bins for Little Hands even includes free printable sheets and information that walks you through how to discuss problem-solving and the design process for kids.

Make Your Own Plastic Toys from Milk: STEAM Powered Family

STEAM Powered Family broke down how to make plastic toys from milk using a process that has been used for over 100 years. In fact, according to their website, even royalty wore jewelry made from milk plastic years ago. To do this activity, you’ll need a stovetop or microwave, milk, white vinegar or lemon juice, bowl, spoon, strainer, paper towel, and molds or other tools for shaping.

Enjoy Competitive Structured Block Play: Raising Lifelong Learners

Colleen Kessler of Raising Lifelong Learners recently wrote about integrating Blocks Rock! into at-home learning. She said, “I adore watching my kids play games like this because they think they’re just having fun, but I know that they’re learning valuable skills.” She also added, “Blocks Rock! is appealing to little guys like my 5-year-old, who is fine-tuning his beginning spatial skills, learning to think logically, and loves racing to ring the bell, all the way up to older kids like my 15-year-old, who wants to “set the record” for solving all of the cards the quickest.”

Create Kid-Friendly Slime: Fun-A-Day

Creating slime is an engaging process and sensory experience that kids will love. There are many ways that you can make slime, and Fun-A-Day has compiled a list of tons of fun slime recipes ranging from Epic Molten Lava Slime to Silver and Gold Slime. The ingredients you’ll need vary depending on the type of slime, but generally include clear or white glue, water, liquid starch, or glue, water, baking soda, and contact solution.

Use Free Websites to Teach Coding to Kids: Preschool Powol Packets

Preschool Powol Packets put together a list of websites that can teach kids (preschool and above) the basics of coding for free. Your kids can learn how to code through free courses, an online community where kids can create projects and share them with others, app building lessons, games, and more.

Make Homemade Ice Cream: The Science Kiddo

The Science Kiddo has a full list of simple kitchen experiments, but one standout idea is to make homemade ice cream in a bag! This experiment takes less than 10 minutes and leaves you with a sweet treat. To make the ice cream, you’ll need a small Ziploc baggie, ½ cup of milk (whole milk or cream works best), 1 Tbsp. sugar, ¼ tsp vanilla, one gallon-size Ziploc bag, 8-10 cups of ice, and 6 Tbsp. salt.

Imitate a Geologist and Sort and Classify Rocks: Rhythms of Play

This activity requires a little planning and some outside STEM adventures as well! On a nice day, head outside and collect a wide variety of rocks that are different sizes, shapes, textures, and colors. You also might want a magnifying glass, Rocks & Minerals Field Guide, and a notebook. When you’re forced to be indoors, start sorting and classifying the rocks and learning more!